Life and times of the CID team
by nkaul12321
Summary: the daughter of the forensic doctor returns.her return leads to a major shake in the lives of the CID team,specially daya
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Today I am going back to where it all started. The one place I would always love to go to. Excitement and happiness were two emotions that always preceded when I was to enter the bureau. My father, mother, my 2 brothers, one sis in law to be, my best friend, and many important people of my life worked.

This was two year ago. A lot had changed since the. Today going back meant experiencing the worst emotions in my life. I felt as if I had been given a life sentence. The people whom I once considered as my own were not a part of my life anymore. That _incident_ had made me loose all my trust. Now trust did not come so easily. The blind trust I had in them had vanished by the time the mystery behind that incident had been solved and in the days that followed I didn't even want to know them.

Whenever I remember them the first thought that I come across is '_if only they had apologized_'. I have no place for them in my life now. But maybe I should give them one last chance. Out of the 10 people in CID eight had considered me guilty and out of the other two one had believed me to be innocent and another one given me the benefit of doubt. They were Vivek and Sachin respectively. The two people I had only interacted with the least and that to if it was work related.

I was still in touch with them. The three of us had become better friends despite the fact that I had gotten transferred for a year to the Behavioural Analysis Unit of the FBI. Facebook, Skype, and all the new technological advents of the software world had drawn the 3 of us closer than what Abhijeet, Daya and me ever were. The people whom I was most disappointed in were my parents – Dr. Salunke and Dr. (Mrs) Sonali. I was devastated to see that my parents had been the first ones to turn their backs on me. But one cannot have everything in life as they plan it. Life is unpredictable.

With that last thought I made my way to get down at Mumbai's International Airport. I was sure that Vivek and Sachin had come to pick me up. That was confirmed as the announcement in the flight went out saying that all passengers were to remain seated and I was requested to make way to the front of the aircraft. Being in law enforcement had it's perks – no security checks; yes to carrying armaments in planes,inside movie halls,etc; among many other things.


	2. Back to Square 1

**Chapter 1:Back to Square 1**

On getting down both Vivek and Sachin mentioned was I had definitely changed. The once bubbly, full of life girl had now been replaced by a mature 25yr old woman. My response being "_Welcome to the life and times of __**NIKHITA KAUL. **__How is everyone? Do they even know I am coming?_". "They know that a new ACP is coming who will be the co head of CID but they don't know who it is. And they also know we are responsible for getting the new ACP safely to the bureau. That reminds me how was the farewell party at the FBI. And did the 12th precinct come too?" said the usually quiet Sachin. "Okay!The entire BAU team complete with Erin Strauss was there with their families. From the 12th precinct Castle, his mom Martha and Castle's daughter Alexis, Espositto, Ryan, Jenny(Ryan's girlfriend), Lanie, Beckett and her dad, and lastly Captain Roy was there too." was my last comment before we drove back to the bureau in absolute silence.

"_Do they still believe that I am guilty?"_ I asked before I could stop myself. "No! They wanted to apologize when they realized what they had done. Although this realization came after 3 months of your leaving. Let them apologize today. It has been one of the thing that they regret the most. I know things cannot go back to what they were earlier but give them a chance to repent and to make it up to you. Do you know Salunke sir keeps looking at your desk whenever he comes to give sir the lab report? And your mum left CID when the truth came out, but she forced to come back a month ago. And do you you know all of the remaining officers started to keep your pics on the table in the frame which you had given to all of us on your last valentine's day with us? Sachin and me put the one which we had clicked on the international airport. That did raise quite a few eyebrows and questions. We told them that we had gotten it clicked the last time we saw you after the fiasco. Besides they don't know where you were for the last one year. They will question you on that. Another noteworthy thing is that Abhijeet sir's memory is back in portions or should I say some episodes of his life but not the entire memory. The doctors say it is difficult to say how much of it will be back. Nothing more might come back either." was the lecture which I got from Vivek. The comment "We've reached" from Sachin shook me from my thoughts.

Standing outside in varying degrees of shock were the rest of the CID team and from the forensic department dad, mom and Abhijeet's fiance Tarika. Daya was now opening the door for me. This was new I thought, as all three of them – Abhijeet, Daya and Freddy only did it for their girlfriend's and wife(in Freddy's case). "We thought you had left the city?" was the first question asked to me and that to by my father of all the people to which my only response was "How does it matter to you? I stopped being your daughter or so you claimed after that day." it was then, at that moment, all of them apologized. My response to them was surprisingly a variation of Vivek's words " I forgive you. But don't expect there to be the same relationship I shared with you a year ago before that _incident_ occurred. You all were not there for me at that time. It will take me time to trust all of you again but even if I do it will not be blind trust anymore. Shall we go up now? Sachin, Vivek I am staying at …...?"

Vivek to this said "Obviously at our place. You were staying with Sachin and me before leaving for Quantico. What's changed now?" "Why did you go to Quantico? Which country is it in?" was as usual Freddy's query. "Quantico is the United States of America. I had received an offer to work with the FBI for a year after that case. I took it up and have been there ever since. Besides Sachin, Vivek I have some gifts for the two of you. I am sure that the two of you will love it. Besides are the two of you still living together?" was my response to the question. To which Vivek replied "Yes Ma'am. Can we go to the bureau and talk? I want my gifts". My only response being "You and your gifts! Let's move up then. Did I tell you that I had my own tablet at work? I not only had a desktop but when we were on cases we got our own tablets. Though I was on the BAU from day 1 but I did not become an accepted part of it a week later." "Why? Had to do some heroic thing to become a part of their group?" was the question raised by Sachin not knowing how true it was. Hoping to distract him I said the first thing that came to my mind "I hate it when you are so close to the truth, did you know that? When we were on my first case in the BAU they only let me work with Garcia though I was being kept updated. Anyway moving on when they had gone to get the kidnapped kid they did not know was that it was a trap. I had come to know but none of them were answering my calls. I got onto some random guy's bike, did a race against time and managed to save them with minor injuries only. I was the one who had been in the worst condition. The others only needed first aids. They did not even have to be admitted to the hospital. I was the poor one who suffered 10 days in that bloody, irritating hospital. But when I came back they all thanked me for saving their lives, apologized for not behaving properly and we eventually became friends. I am sorry that I did not tell you the entire story. But I could not at that time." To which Sachin responded "But there is something in this story which you are not telling us. Isn't it right?" "Um-mm! Out of the 10 days I was in the hospital I was in coma for the first 50 hrs after the surgery. And it was nothing major since I am here already. Plus I did not want a lecture." was the only witty response I could think of.

"Sir! Since Nikhita reached here an hour ago what have the three of them been discussing? Do you know anything?" Freddy said directing his query to Abhijeet and Daya. "Nope! Even we weren't that close to here before and the two of us knew her since she was seven. It was her who would always know everything about us but we never knew that much about her just the general stuff. Plus we never remember her talking to us that much forget about them." was the jealous reply of my once best friend Daya.

Our one of the rare free moments at the CID Bureau was interrupted by the beeping and printing sounds of the fax machine next to my old table. After one good look at the document I announced happily, way too happily for the others "The BAU has a case for which they are coming here. A serial killer has come to this city and the case has been given over to the BAU. They need our assistance in closing this case." As I heard the beeping of the machine again I walked over to see the new document which had been faxed and after reading it I announced "This is from the external affairs ministry. They want our full cooperation in assisting the BAU. As if we needed to be told this!". Vivek and Sachin's exclamation of joy told me that they desperately wanted to meet those people with whom I worked with for a year.

Before I could say or ask anything else the tablet, which had been the combined gift from the BAU, started ringing. On checking I realized it was Garcia calling me on Skype. On accepting the call I saw Garcia's face gracing the screen. She started of as usual "Hey 190! How are you? Look at you, you are looking so relieved, happy and excited at the same time. Here the rest of the team wants to talk to you specially boss man.". "Bring them on" was the only thing I could say before being bombarded by a string and variation of hi's, which was backed up by Aaron Hotchner (or boss man as labeled by Garcia and one nickname which was one of the many common things between the two of us) "We are reaching Mumbai in the next 2 hrs including the immigration check. Can you arrange someone to pick us up?". "I will come to pick you up. See you guys here in two hours." was my reply before the call ended.

"Why did they call you 190?" was Daya's question once the call ended. "It is because of her IQ level" was Vivek's answer to Daya's question. "IQ level? What has her IQ level to do with 190?" was everyone's except Vivek and Sachin's response to this answer. I finally responded by saying "My IQ level is 190, I also have a photographic memory and I can also read 23500 words per minute. My IQ level was above their resident genius Dr. Spencer Reid. Reid's is 187. I have 3 PhD's, 2 Masters and 1 graduation degree not counting my being one of the leading doctors of Forensic doctors in USA and India" was my reply "Funny you people never knew all this about me and I thought family knew everything each other."

_45 minutes later_:

"I am going to pick them up. They will be staying at my place. I will be back in two hours. I am so excited that I get a chance to work with them one last time. I am so happy! Meet you guys in 3hrs. Are you all coming or not?" was my dulcet tone to which the entire CID responded in yes. "We will be need two cars then...". Before I could say anything else Daya said "Vivek and Sachin can come in the second car while the rest of us will be going with you.". Both of them before saying yes looked to me for confirmation.

15 minutes later all of us finally left with Freddy driving our car. We had started when Daya decided to start questioning me "how are you? I know I have lost the right to, but still. I want to know how are you coping up." "I wasn't for the first month. Finally I had a breakdown that to in front of Hotchner of all the people. He really helped. I think it was partially because of the fact that even he lost his wife the same way. The only difference was that he reached in time to save his son. That's enough of depressing talk. I heard congratulations are in order for Abhijeet." was what I told him, deviating the talk from me to them. "For what?" Daya asked. "He got married. That's why. Funny you should ask. You were there when he and Tarika got married in court." was my reply. "How did you come to know? We hadn't told anyone. Nobody other than Daya, Tarika and me knew. Not even ACP sir." Abhijeet asked in shock. Smirking, I replied "I have my sources. Kidding. Vivek and Sachin told me that. They were there for some of my work when the two of you got married and if my news is correct you are going to be a dad in exactly 6 months from today, which I am sure neither you nor anyone else in the bureau knows.".

"How the hell you know these things is beyond me woman but I can tell you one thing is that you have become really mature." stated Daya trying to resume his questioning in hopes of trying to get to know me, but was interrupted by "We've reached" from Freddy. "Hmm! You all go to park the car. I'll wait here for them." but before I could get down I spotted the BAU team and I told them "Never mind they are here." and I shouted over the crowd "Hey guys! Over here!".

The first one to spot me was boss man who led the team over to us. Once they came over I had disappeared under a number of hugs. It did not look like that they had not seen me for the last 48 hours. Instead it looked like they had not seen me for the last 48 months. "It's good to see you guys!" I finally said after the hugs were over. But the tedious task of introducing each other was still left. And I wondered what fireworks would start once the introductions were though.

As I introduced the BAU to the CID team and vice versa I noticed that the BAU team was cold to everyone other than Sachin and Vivek. I felt like pitying them. I could tell from my personal experience that it felt really bad since the BAU would treat the person with hostility. The BAU was like one family, one whose ties were the strongest. They would never go against any person of their group. My assumption had been proved right when Hotch's wife had been killed. I had joined the BAU the day after his wife had died. He had been the one to understand my emotional turmoil. Both of us had needed the other that time. All of the members of BAU thought that it was the best thing that could have happened. For the both of us. But seeing them it made me realize that I was still a part of their family.

I snapped out of my thoughts and I said "Let's leave and head towards my place so that all of you can freshen up. After you guys have freshened up we can head up to the bureau". To this statement Morgan replied "Lady, you are a life saver. How we are going to survive without you is beyond me.". "Enough of your flirting Morgan. Let her be so that we can start on the case" was Hotch's reply to which Reid replied "Stop being jealous will you? He is not taking your wife away from you.". "Wife? We thought that the two of you were only engaged!" was the shriek from Vivek and Sachin while the others only shrieked "Wife?".

I looked at Reid and the rest of the team before replying "Um-mm! We got married a week before I left. I have already submitted papers for a permanent transfer to NYPD. This is my last case with you guys. I have to even look after Jack.". Hearing this my questioning was restarted by Daya's "Whose Jack?" "My Son" being the only explanation I was going to give to them though Vivek and Sachin knew and understood who Jack was. "But why NYPD?" was Abhijeet's question. "Because I will be joining as the co - captain of the 12th precinct. Less of paperwork , no field work, and more regular timings. Besides I think we should make a move. Don't you people think so to?" was my final reply. While taking the BAU team to my place there were flashes of my past were going through my mind. The most prominent of them being the people in the CID, BAU and the 12th precinct were all my own. I was treating the CID team badly and I would regret it. Terribly. And all throughout my life.

When we reached my place I got the news that once this case was over the first Monday after that would be my first day as the co head of the 12th precinct. It was now official. I was a part of the CID team only for the next 156 hours. And this time also included my travel time. One thing which I considered lucky was that I had not unpacked. Nor would I need to.


	3. At Home Or Not

**CHAPTER 2: AT HOME OR NOT**

We had now reached my home. Or maybe not. My home was where my family was, in other words the Hotchner residence. I was now Nikhita Kaul Hotchner, Co Captain of the 12th precinct. I was feeling bad for Vivek and Sachin. With my thoughts still spinning I got out of the bathroom after having a bath and now dressing up in my once favourite white shirt and dark blue denim jeans. Hair open, wearing the pendant and chain given by Aaron as a wedding gift I stepped out of our room. Getting the tea ready I asked everyone if they wanted to eat toast or biscuits with tea. Everyone said yes to the biscuits.

Once our breakfast was over, we headed over to the bureau. Without thinking I slipped my hand into Aaron's hand before entering the bureau building. This action though familiar to the BAU irked the CID officers. I then remembered my transfer letter. I informed everyone of the development. Hearing this news Vivek asked "Are you sure that you are not leaving because of their treatment?" "No Vivek. That is not my reason. But do you know what hurt me most that day? It was the fact that when my daughter and my biological parents were killed my dear husband Daya divorced me the first night I was in the prison. My divorce was finalized within the next 24 hours. When I needed him the most, he left me. Aaron came to know this 2 hours after I came out of coma. He helped me heal. The support which should have been provided by Daya was provided by Aaron. We both needed the recovery, me from Pari's death and him from his wife's. By the time both of us had healed we had become best friends. Not only that I had become a surrogate mother to Jack. Did you know what all Daya told me when he came to tell me that our marriage was officially over? He said that I was a terrible mistake, that he never should have saved me from those monsters and that I should have died that day. Saving me was his life's greatest mistake. Also he said that he will make sure to never do this for anyone in his life any more. I now feel terrible for ever loving such a shallow person. Anyway, I need to call Jess. I need to check on Jack." with that I left to call Jack.

While I was talking to Jack, Daya was being criticized for his words. Vivek and Sachin could be heard shouting "WE HAD BEEN WARNED BY HER NOT TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THIS SITUATION! BUT TODAY WE HAVE NO QUALMS! ARE YOU MAD! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOU TOLD HER THIS! NO DOUBT SHE WAS IN SUCH A SHOCK THAT DAY!" in a whisper they added "don't you dare to approach her. She is now married to Hotch and happily might I add. Keep in mind that you should be in jail for mental harassment! And you can even loose your badge which will make it impossible for you to hold work at one place for long. Remember this!".

When I came back after the call I noticed that there was a lot of tension in the air and Daya was getting very bad looks from the BAU team, Vivek and Sachin. The CID team wasn't faring any better. I realized that now that the cat was out of the bag he must have had some, no actually a lot of talking to specially by Vivek and Sachin. Things were going to be different from now on. "If you guys are over with screaming at Daya can we get back to work? I have read all the files. I will first give the CID team the profile which you have got but I have noticed two or three dicey points plus I have some points to add to the profile too. CID team centre table please. The guy we are after is a mass murderer. He has killed one family in each state of the country before moving out of the country. Master disguiser. He originally is a white male in his late twenties, early thirties. One thing which I found missing from your notes is that this guy was made to convert from one religion to another forcefully. Another thing to be seen is that he leaves the person who was the unhappiest in the family alive with only a concussion that too from where he hit them to render them unconscious. Also the financial background results added by Garcia in the report show that all the families are related. I have asked her to also trace all of their common relatives and to try to find out if any relatives here. She found out the exact addresses. But the only drawback is that there are four of them in India. Which one will he strike first is an issue!" to which ACP sir replied "Then we should call all of them to the bureau to question them". I was now forced to state the fact which I had not stated till yet "These families were no longer alive, they had died at least 2 to 3 years ago. Other than these four families there is only one family that is closely related to all but one of the previously killed families. They are a distant relatives of that family. I have called for their background information from Garcia. Babes please tell me you have removed their information before I even started this speech!" . To this Garcia amusedly replied "Yup! It was done by the time your irritating old man over there started speaking. And to your unasked question, No he deserves no respect. In your team nobody other than Vivek, Sachin and obviously you deserves respect."

"I don't know what to say Garcia. Anyway, I want Freddy and Vivek to go over to this address and bring them over. Morgan, you and Tasha need to go the house no 1. Prentiss, Abhijeet and Kajal to house no 2. Dave and Daya to house no , and Sachin to house no 4. Garcia will be doing a check if there had been any survivors or any lead. ACP sir, you and Aaron will come with me to the forensic lab to see if there have been any details missed by me. I don't think there should be but still. Everyone move now I want everyone back in the next 5 hours. We should have gotten everything on the board by the time we reassemble. Each of the group may have to do the sweeps. The CID team are more than sufficient to do the sweeps but I need the BAU people assigned to each group to help them in it too.


	4. The Investigations

**CHAPTER 3: THE INVESTIGATIONS**

**Freddy and Vivek's POV:**

While driving down to get the victim Freddy decided to ask Vivek the one question which was weighing heavily on his mind. "Vivek, tell me one thing why did she send the people in that order? Do you know anything?". To this Vivek replied "Because she didn't want any information about her and her husband to be turned into gossip." What Vivek did not realise was how true that statement was.

**2 hours later:**

Both Freddy and Vivek had for a change managed to get the victim without an error or for that matter managed to get the right person.

**Morgan and Tasha POV:**

"U mm! Mr Morgan! Can I ask you something? How did Nikhita end up with your boss? Since when have they been going around?" "I don't think it should concern you as it is their life and not yours. Can we get back to work now? We even have to reach back. Thank you!"

**3.5 hours later:**

Both Tasha and Morgan had enough new evidences to get some lead into their lives and were on the way back to the bureau.

**Prentiss, Abhijeet and Kajal POV:**

Abhijeet and Kajal did not know what they would get into if they decided to ask the unanswered questions about Nikhita. When they did the only reply they got was this "IF YOU KNOW WHAT IS RIGHT FOR THE TWO OF YOU THEN I WOULD LIKE TO TELL THE TWO OF YOU THAT THE TWO OF YOU SHOULD LEARN TO MIND YOUR BUISNESS! If you want to know then kindly ask Nikhita. But according to our profiles about you all I am sure you all have questioned her and the reply which she gave you is not enough for you. Let me tell the two of you she is none of your concern any more."

**3.5 hours later:**

While heading back home all three of them did not realise how similar were their evidences to the rest of the groups.

**Dave and Daya POV:**

Daya was the only person in the group who understood why the following groups had been made. He knew and understood the fact that he had been the one to wrong Nikhita. It had been all his fault. He should have supported her like she had always supported him whenever he had been accused of something and not believed by the CID team. He told Dave "Sir, could you do me a favour? Can you please tell Nikhita that I am really sorry for my actions. I have wronged her.". To this the only reply Dave gave was "I will! Don't worry."

**Meanwhile at the bureau:**

ACP Pradyuman, Hotch and Nikhita were having a discussion over the murder styles of the previous victims. Garcia had given them some similarities about their lifestyles and other activities of theirs. They now only needed the evidences from the already murdered families to come to know the next victim.

**5 hours later:**

All the groups were back. The first to reach back were Dave and Daya. On reaching back Nikhita had been pulled away from others by Dave. They could be seen having some talk. After the talk Dave headed straight to Daya to tell him about his ex-wife's decision. After that whispered talk everyone could see that Daya seem relieved.

The rest of the people walked 10 minutes later. The CID team looked a bit perplexed at the relieved look on Daya's face and the proud smiles of Hotch and Dave. The looks of understanding made them more confused. But the relieved look on Daya's face was a welcome change. They were happy that after 12 months of emotional turmoil specially the feelings of sadness, anger, self loathing were gone. He looked happier. This may be the start of the "OLD" Daya coming back. The one whom I loved and still love but not in the same way. Today it was the same affection I had for him as I had for a friend. At that time it had been as a lover.

Another thing that had changed between then and now was that then Abhijeet and Freddy both were like brothers, but today nothing more than friends. How soon the equations had changed surprised me. But the reminder of the year old incident made me realise that it hadn't been sudden but how fate had changed everything in one go. One blow and all of us had changed. Abhijeet had also gotten married that too in less than a month of my leaving. Something in which he wanted me to fulfil all the rites that should have been performed by his family if they had been alive for his marriage. In that moment I realised that my decision of forgiving them had been correct. Something which had been because of the presence of Aaron in my life. This relation had changed me. Dramatically. I was a much better person than I had been when I had joined CID. My priorities had changed too after coming to know them personally.


	5. The Dreaded Past

**CHAPTER 4: THE DREADED PAST**

The last to arrive had been Freddy and Vivek. They had with them managed to get the entire family of five – the father, mother, 2 kids and their servant. For the first time in the history of those two being assigned partners they had managed to get a family without "MAJOR" troubles. I always was of the belief that whatever mess those two got in the field and the mess Abhijeet and Tarika got in the forensic lab wasn't possible by any other human possible. It was their constant flirting which had made the transition instantaneous when I saw the ongoing flirting matches between Garcia and Morgan. It had been a funny scene when they asked me about it. 4 hours after I come out of coma out of which the past two hours I had talked non stop to Hotch telling him about my past. Being questioned about my easy acceptance didn't last long when I told them that at CID there had been the a couple like them. The similarities had been very striking too. First being that both Morgan and Abhijeet were people who would become the head of the office once the current head stepped down. The next similarity being that both Garcia and Tarika were Analysts but one was a computer analyst and the other forensic analyst. The best part about it was the shocked face of Garcia and Morgan when they heard that the Indian versions of them were to get married in less than 3 days. The rest of the BAU team was laughing uncontrollably. Even the ever serious Hotch had laughed. I had been presented with a huge amount of gifts from the rest of the team just for that laugh I had managed to get from him. His smiles and laughs had been seen by the team only when he was with Haley and Jack. But since Haley's death he had apparently forgotten how to smile. What they didn't know was that it would be one of many times I would be able to extract a laugh from him in the coming days.

Each moment at BAU taught me a lot. Whether it be work related or personal reasons, I was the one who gained. Even my temper had cooled down. I wasn't as hot headed as I was a few years back. The death of my daughter and the subsequent blaming of me had changed me. In this profession everyone other than our immediate family was our enemy. We would take it for granted that no one from our family would hurt us. When your own family betrayed you, that moment would become any person's worst nightmare come true.

I had been the only person other than the ACP who understood this. ACP sir's own son had betrayed the country for which sir had to kill him with his own hands. In my case I had been a victim of my family's misunderstanding. One of the terrorist's kin had deemed it to be the best way to cripple the CID. He murdered my daughter and biological parents and staging it in such a way that I would be the accused. I had been the accused for the first 3 days. During those three days CID decided that in order to frame me properly they needed to get all the proofs to nail me. But on the end of the 3rd day they remembered that I had security systems installed. They thought that it would be the one to nail me finally. But that video recording had been the one to free me. The one thing which proved my innocence. Those 3 days had been the worst of my life. The divorce papers had been given to me in the same package as my daughter and parents death certificate. None of the rest 8 had bothered to apologize at that time. They must have thought that I would forgive them like I always did. They would not have to make any effort in making up to me. When I had needed their support, they had deserted me. I no longer considered them family. I had my new family with me. Though I still kept them at a distance but my forgiving of the CID team was the first step in my coming closer to this family. I knew I hadn't married on the rebound and if I had, it would have made me unhappy. But I also knew this that if I had gotten married to Hotchner then I would never let mine and Aaron's relation fail intentionally. I would work towards our relation. At least for Jack's sake. In the short span of 5 hours I had come more closer to the BAU team if possible.

My life was very different now. The changes had been positive ones if not anything else. But the fact that this would be the last case I would be working on with the CID team. This had been where I had spent many years of my childhood. But out my 25 years of life I had spent 17 years in the U.S. I had dual citizenship of both India and the U.S. Holding a green card had made it easier for me to start my business in US. I was very rich and did not need to work. Yet I did just for keeping myself busy. Now I was going back to my "BACKUP" country. That country which never failed me. I had a son who loved me as much as his biological mother. It had been expected by me that he would love her more. She was the one who gave birth to him. Plus he even had spent the most of his first 4 years of his life with her. But Jack loved me a lot like he loved her. He knew the fact very well that I was his 2nd mother. Plus he was already bugging me about when he would get a younger sibling. What the others did not know was the fact that Jack was my adopted son's name. He and Aaron's son shared the first name but they were not the same person. This sacrifice though huge had been necessary. I would still be able to consult the BAU on some tough cases. And it wasn't like we wont be seeing each other any longer. But this truth still made me incomplete. I hoped nobody would remember my statement of the last case with BAU when I had received the fax.

Plus I did not want to tell them the truth right now. Once I got settled in New York I would send a letter to the entire team explaining to them the situation. This way they could not obstruct my permanent transfer. Nor could they object. I was leaving the country once and for all. PERMANENTLY.


	6. The Catching Part

**CHAPTER 5: THE CATCHING PART**

Once we all had gathered after 5 hours everybody had new evidences with them. The questioning by Aaron, Dave, Daya, Abhijeet, ACP sir and me had started the moment Freddy and Vivek bought the family in.

**1 Hour later:**

Now that the questioning was over we were going over the evidences from the four houses and cross checking them with all the details given by the family. All the details provided by the family had been verified by Garcia. They had even left out some details on which they were questioned on site by the six of us. I was only interjecting in between the question answer session when some detail did not seem like it fit with their explanation. We all had details. Now we even had the sketch of the killer. Now all that was required was the catching of the killer. We had already sent the family home. Also with them we had made sure to have both the CID and the BAU team placed at different places in the room. ACP Sir was sitting in a van outside looking at the house through the hidden cameras we had installed in the house. Now we could catch the guy in action. Then I could head back home. New York here I come. I was waiting for my stint in the NYPD. Maybe not as much as I would have if I would have been rejoining FBI but a person had to make some sacrifices. Specially if he/she had a huge business empire to take care of. I would only be going to the NYPD because I had such a fabulous staff working there that I did not need to go there 5 days a week. I would go once a week, generally on Saturdays. That too for paperwork. My life was going to be real hectic once more. Anyway back to the crime scene.

We all were ready at our positions. Freddy who was standing next to me was cribbing about the fact that if he did not reach on time his wife would kill him and then make him do all the house work. When I pointed out the fact to him that once dead he would not be able to work his ever intelligent reply was "SHUT UP!". But this waiting period was soon over. The killer had arrived. We all sprung into action. All 13 of us as one had sprung into action. In less than 5 minutes the killer had been caught. I felt relieved as well as devastated that we had closed the case so soon. I had not wanted the case to get over so soon. I wanted some more time with the BAU team. But I realised that I would be getting some free time with the team of the flight back home. I was now officially a part of the NYPD. But leaving the country where I was born was truly a saddening affair.


	7. FORMALITIES AND LEAVING

**CHAPTER 6: FORMALITIES AND LEAVING**

Now all that was left was completing the formalities. A few of Quantico's best police officers had flown in when we were busy setting up the victim's house to nab the UnSub or the Unknown Subject. The UnSub had confessed when we were questioning him. They were going to be deporting the Serial killer back to Quantico for trial tonight while the rest of us would be leaving day after tomorrow. I was going to take them shopping tomorrow. The CID team would be coming too. Then there was a going away party at my place at 6 in the night. All my acquaintances from my old days were coming. It was last day in India. EVER. I still had to write that letter. I now planned to post it before I reached the Airport. It would take at least a week to reach it's destination. I had written to each and every member of the team, including my parents. The cat would be out of the bag soon. But I felt it was the right thing to do. Once I had gotten a perfect draft ready it would not take me long to write the 10 letters. It would take me a maximum 90 minutes to write the letters once I knew what to write. But I still had to decide what I was supposed to write. Never had I experienced such awkwardness with them in my life. I was always able to talk to them at ease. Specially when I had come back from New York. Though I was always in contact with them I never had seen them in 10 years. The first time we met in 2004, we got talking as if we were never in different continents. It still unnerving to think that one incident could cause such an effect on a family.

I had finally decided to tell them actually write to them the truth. I finally got down to some serious writing. I knew I had to finish it tonight if I wanted to ever post them by Saturday. Today was Thursday night and early on Saturday we were leaving. I was going to be taking the jet back to Quantico with the BAU team and then from the Airport I was to head back to New York to get my entire flat cleaned up and then have a relaxing dip in the tub.

**MIDNIGHT:**

I finally had the letters written. It had taken me 7 hours to write them. To each of the letters I had added some message for them in the end. It was just to make sure that to them it looked like I had taken time to write to them. It was the the truth I had taken 7 hours to write 10 letters when 90 percent of 8 letters contained the same thing. Vivek and Sachin's letters though of the same length contained some more information than the others. I had even told them that it was highly probable that I would not get time to write to them everyday mostly twice a week since I had NYPD, a highly successful business and a son to look after in my life. I hoped they would forgive me. Also my son's family had been located. The DNA had been verified and he was going to stay with his Aunt(his mother's sister). It was Jack's choice also. I did not want to fight for his custody as his mother's will had been uncovered and it mentioned that he be sent to her sister to live with her after her death. I had already sent him there but since both of us lived in the same city I still went to meet him on Sundays. I had my entire life in front of me. Though legally I was still his mother and guardian, he was living with his aunt. Plus it made it easier for me to spoil him with gifts and presents. I left the discipling part of it to Jessica, his aunt. Funny how much of problems I could bear in my life and still come out strong. Jack's schooling and college fees was going to be paid by me. Something for which Jessica and her husband Henry were relieved about. They already had a son and a daughter. With Jack coming to stay with them they would not have been able to pay for all three children's fees as their kids were twins. Also on Sundays I would take the three kids out for fun time. I would generally even take the three of them out for shopping. This way a lot of expenses had been taken care of for the Parker family as I was saving them money on not only Jack's education but also all three kids shopping.

**NEXT DAY:**

The next day we all were busy shopping. I had bought traditional clothes for all three of the kids and some jewellery for Jessica's daughter also. I had selected the same coloured clothes for the 2 Jacks,J.J' son, and Jessica's son. I sometimes wondered how life would be from here. We also bought a sari for both Jessica's (mine as well as Aaron's), J.J, Garcia, Dave's wife, Spence's mother, Jenny, Lanie, Captain's wife, Martha, Alexis, Strauss, Beckett and also for Morgan's mother and sisters. They all already knew how to drape them. I had taught them how to. That was the shopping trip. When we got back the preparations of the party had already started and the people responsible for it were well into their work. This was going to be my going away party the one I never got the last time and this time too I was the one hosting it for them and not the other way round. We all had headed up to our respective rooms for packing. Aaron and me headed up to our rooms too. All of us were sharing rooms – Morgan and Garcia; Prentiss and Dave; Aaron and me. Only Spencer had his own room. It took us until 3:30 to get packed. After a quick snack all 3 of us girls went to my rooms to get dressed. Spencer was the only one to comment "Why do you want 2 ½ hours to get ready?". Funnily enough the rest of the males in unison replied "Because they are girls!". This made me realise we needed dates too or at least needed a partner for the party. When I pointed out this Garcia shouted "Morgan" and I said "Aaron!". J.J decided that she would be going with Spencer which left Prentiss and Dave. Before either of them could say anything I spoke up saying "now that we had decided our partners lets get dressed we only have 2 hours and 25 minutes".

**6 P.M:**

By 5:55 pm all of us had gotten ready. We girls in our favourite dresses and the men in suits. All partners had colour contrasted. It wasn't like we would stick to our partners. Each one of us was going to dance with everyone of our group be it male or female. Specially me. At 6 exact the rest of my "AQUAINTANCES" started pouring in the house. The party had started. The dancing would start after I gave my introduction speech. The first dance would be Aaron and mine. It was keeping in mind the tradition of all our old parties. The tradition which I had started when I was 5. The party for whom it was would be the first to take the stage. The next or the second dance would be the person in question with his or her family, in my case it was the BAU. "Hi everyone! As you all know this is my going away speech. I thank all of you for coming here today. Today is my last day in India. Tomorrow early morning I am leaving for Quantico where I will start my new life. Now before dancing I would like to announce the people involved in the 2nd dance. For my 1st dance I will be dancing with my husband Aaron Hotchner. In the 2nd dance my family from the BAU - Garcia with Morgan, Spencer with J.J, Prentiss with Dave, and Aaron and me will be dancing." was the short speech I gave.

The dancing had now started. For the first dance the song chosen was "Khuda Jaane" my once favourite song. The dance had been wonderful. I had to accept Hotch was a wonderful dancer. The second dance had been funny. Dave and Prentiss were dancing so awkwardly that Hotch and me were forced to exchange partners. I ended up dancing with Dave for ¾ of the 2nd dance. The night had been glorious. I had danced quite a lot with the BAU team but the most with Aaron, Dave and Morgan(in decreasing order of number of dances). Funny how much I would miss them after I would shift to Manhattan.

By 10 the party had ended the cleaning crew had already started to clean up the entire house. The house was dirt free by midnight. The night passed full of nightmares of my daughter's death. I had to let go of the video recording of her last moments. It would eat me away if I held it on longer. But since I had gone to see whether the rest of the girls were ready it was nowhere to be seen. I had my suspicion to the fact that Aaron had taken it away. He knew me way too well. After all he was my best friend. At the end of the day I was going away with a new start. First, I had forgiven the CID team. This gesture had let go of any grudges I still held against them. Secondly, though I had taken a more cowardly way I was still going to tell them the truth about Aaron and me. Last but not the least my life was now my own to deal with.

**NEXT DAY AT AIRPORT:**

When all of us reached the International Airport the first sight I saw was the entire CID team. Daya took me aside and said "Nikhita, I know you haven't married Hotch. But I can promise you this. When your letter addressed to the rest of us arrives I will handle the situation on my own. I think you should give me the letters. I'll give it to them on Tuesday.". This statement of his did not surprise me. I quietly gave him the letters and told him to handle the situation. I also told him to take care of himself. Before joining the others I gave him a tight hug. I was relieved. The reason behind it was the fact that everything was going perfectly fine. I had achieved a sense of peace like never before.


	8. Epilogue

**CHAPTER 7: EPILOGUE**

It had been ten years after my last case with CID and the BAU. In the last 10 years a lot had changed. A year after that case Daya had been injured very badly. His leg had been injured terribly. The doctors had said that he would be limping for the rest of his life. This meant that he would have to leave CID but I had managed to pull some strings and had gotten him a job of training the new crowd to make them into the best police officials at New York's police department. He had accepted on my insistence. For the first two months the two of us were in a live in relationship but when he came to know that I was pregnant again the two of us got married all over again. This time it was forever. We were blessed with a daughter again. My adoptive son was pleased to be a big brother. He was now spending more time at our place than his aunt's. I had left NYPD after I came to know that I was pregnant. I was now concentrating on my hotels. The best thing was the Castle getting married to Beckett on the day of Naina's birth. They had eloped and gotten married in court. All of us had come to know the day after. It had been a surprise that they had been seeing each other. None of us even suspected this.

But everything happens for a reason. Everything was back to good though not perfect. Daya and me still fought sometimes but they were never so big that it would lead us to divorce again. Surprisingly enough Daya was never jealous of my doing better than him. Many a times I had seen people's marriages fail because the husbands were jealous of the fact that their wives earned more than them. But Daya knew all my hard work was paying off. He understood that I had given up my childhood to build this huge chain of hotels. I had opened my fist hotel when I was just 14 years old. He would often joke that he just had to spend 1 quarter of his salary towards home and Naina, the rest was his pocket money. This quality of his was what I found the most enduring about him.

As far as the BAU are concerned, Garcia and Morgan ended up getting married with us in the same court on the same day. The only difference was they got married half an hour after we did. Life was definitely looking better. Much much better. All of us had moved on.


End file.
